title: Detection and characterization of Babesia species in Ixodes ticks in Estonia.
abstract: The presence of Babesia spp. was studied in 2603 Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes persulcatus ticks collected at seven sites in Estonia. By reverse line blot screening, Babesia spp. was detected in 36 (1.4%) ticks, among them 18 (0.7%) were further recognized by a Babesia microti probe, 3 (0.1%) by a Babesia divergens probe, and the other 15 (0.6%) were recognized only by the universal Babesia spp. "catch all" probe. Sequence analyses of 6 of these 15 samples revealed that all of them belonged to Babesia sp. EU1. B. microti was detected in both tick species I. ricinus and I. persulcatus at the seven sites, whereas B. divergens-like and Babesia sp. EU1 were found only in I. persulcatus and I. ricinus, respectively. Genetic characterization based on partial 18S rRNA showed that the Estonian sequences of B. microti, B. divergens-like, and Babesia sp. EU1 share a high rate of similarity and are closely related to sequences from other European countries, Siberia, and United States. The present study demonstrated for the first time the existence and distribution of Babesia spp. in I. persulcatus and I. ricinus ticks in Estonia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Katargina
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.forename: Veera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vasilenko
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuznetsova
authors.forename: Lilian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Järvekülg
authors.forename: Sirkka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vene
authors.forename: Åke
authors.initials: Å
authors.lastname: Lundkvist
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Golovljova
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D004957:Estonia; D018884:Ixodes / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D017421:Sequence Analysis
chemical_list: D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S